UC Law professor discusses upcoming US Supreme Court decision

Ryan Thoreson, an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, spoke with Newsweek about arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court for the case Chiles v. Salazar.

That case focuses on the use of conversion therapy, the practice of trying to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity through counseling. Kaley Chiles, a counselor in Colorado, is challenging the state’s law prohibiting the use of conversion therapy on minors before the high court.

In a petition to the Supreme Court, her attorneys wrote that she is a "licensed counselor who helps people by talking with them."  Conversion therapy for minors is banned in more than 20 states, reports Newsweek.

Thoreson told Newsweek he believes Colorado has strong arguments in favor of its ban, but that he is "skeptical this Court will uphold the state's conversion therapy ban in light of its recent First Amendment rulings."

States currently regulate the conduct of medical professionals and can prohibit practices that fall below a certain standard of care, Thoreson says.

"And they can do so even when that conduct involves some amount of speech,” Thoreson told Newsweek. 

Read the full Newsweek article online.

Learn more about UC Law’s Ryan Thoreson online.

Featured top image of the U.S. Supreme Court. Photo/Istock.